Call Me Ted Review

I just finished reading "Call Me Ted" which is an autobiography of Ted Turner, the iconoclastic business man who brought the world CNN, The Cartoon Channel, and Ted's Montana Grill among many other business and charitable contributions.  As a reader I found the book engaging and easy to read, well written, informative and thought provoking.  As an entrepreneur I found the book inspiring. However as father of three young boys, I found myself disappointed that Turner threw himself into time consuming and life threatening sailing competitions at the expense of spending time with his children.

By reading "Call Me Ted"  I gained a better appreciation for the trials and tribulations  that Ted Turner went through to transform a sleepy billboard company founded by his father into an owner of television stations, creator of the first "SuperStations" and then the innovator of the 24 hour news channel with CNN. His vision, confidence, persistence, passion and incredible work ethic come through in many of the stories that he tells or are told by his family and colleagues throughout the book.  

Turners transformation into an aware and concerned citizen of the world is also quite fascinating.  His strict and abusive father combined with military school training helped to raise him with some very traditional and not so progressive views of women and the world.  However it does seem that as his life progressed he became involved, aware and increasingly engaged in tackling some large and looming issues such as population control, nuclear disarmament and global warming.  He brings an admirable and unqiue brand of bravado, generosity, and tough minded creativity to some of the world's biggest problems.

The story of the Goodwill Games, his meetings with Michael Gorbachev, and the ups and downs of his many charitable efforts are absolutely fascinating. I also found it interesting to hear the different accounts of exactly how Turner decided to vote in favor the merger with AOL.  I appreciated the fact that he re-counted the events in one way and then let his friends submit completely different accounts. I like the transparency evident in that approach.

While I feel sorry for his kids that he was not more present as a father, I ultimately have to admire his incredible energy, vision, persistence and evolution as a person. It is for this reason that I recommend "Call Me Ted" to anyone interested in the story of a great entrepreneur and now philanthropist.

I have always admired entrepreneurs who have built their companies from scratch into great companies that helped to change the world. 

DISCLOSURE: "Call Me Ted" was written with Bill Burke someone I worked with briefly with several years ago when he was CEO of The Weather Channel and I was the CEO of Q Interactive, both owned by Landmark Communications.  Bill is a first class guy and it was fun to read this book knowing that he was so intimately involved in bringing it to life.